Concave suspension for a threshing section in a harvesting machine

ABSTRACT

An agricultural harvesting machine including a frame and a threshing section supported by the frame. The threshing section includes a rotating member, a concave and a hydraulic concave support system that positions the concave proximate to the rotating member. The concave is movable in directions toward or away from the rotating member. The hydraulic concave support system includes at least one hydraulically driven element movable substantially parallel to the same directions.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a harvesting machine, and, moreparticularly, to a harvesting machine with a concave suspension for thethreshing section.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Harvesting systems, also known as combines include a crop gatheringportion that gathers the crop material and separates it from the ground.In the threshing section the desired grain is threshed from the materialgathered. The threshing system includes what are known as concaves thatare positioned proximate to a moving usually somewhat cylindrical rotor.The concaves include holes through which the grain passes during thethreshing session. The grain is then conveyed for further processing andtemporary storage within the harvesting system.

During the harvesting operation the feed rate of crop material into thethreshing section of the harvester is highly variable. This is causedboth by operator selections of such things as the ground speed but alsothe feed variability due to variation in the crop density and presenceof weeds. This variable feed rate presents a problem for the harvestingmachine settings as well as the component life of the concaves and otherthreshing devices.

When a harvester is set up for a specific crop, that setting is finetuned for a particular throughput of the machine. This particularthroughput is selected to work best for a specific throughput of themachine. However, the actual throughputs of the machine will varysignificantly from the ideal throughput. When the harvester is operatingwith the selected setting it is not optimized when not operating at thatspecific throughput for which the setting was designed. This results inless than optimum performance which is expressed in increased losses,grain damage, excess strain on the components and wear on the threshingconcaves and other components therein. Further if the feed ratevariation occurs at a rate faster than which the operator can react,such as slug feeding, the threshing section undergoes extreme stress.This stress leads to component failure of the mechanical systems. Themechanical components as a result are designed to take the highestpossible loads even though machines will typically not see these loadsunder normal operation and some machines will never see these loads.

What is needed in the art is an adaptive and effective threshing systemfor use in a harvester.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a hydraulic suspension system for theconcaves associated with a rotor in a threshing section of a harvester.

The invention in one form is directed to an agricultural harvestingmachine including a frame and a threshing section supported by theframe. The threshing section includes a rotating member, a concave and ahydraulic concave support system that positions the concave proximate tothe rotating member. The concave is movable in directions toward or awayfrom the rotating member. The hydraulic concave support system includesat least one hydraulically driven element movable substantially parallelto the same directions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a harvesting machine utilizing an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned side view of threshing section utilizingan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematicized end view of the threshing section illustratingelements of an embodiment of the hydraulic concave support system of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is another end view of another embodiment of the hydraulicconcave support system of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of either FIG. 3 or FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a schematical block diagram illustrating some of the controlelements of the hydraulic concave support system of FIGS. 1-5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there isshown a harvesting system 10 having wheels 12, a frame 14, a cab 16, acontrol system 18 and a threshing system 20. Wheels 12 are connected toframe 14 providing for movement of system 10. Frame 14 supports cab 16and threshing system 20. Within cab 16 part of control system 18 islocated including an operator interface.

Now, additionally referring to FIGS. 2-6 there is shown elements ofthreshing system 20. Rotor 22 also known as a rotating member 22 rotatesabout an axis drawing crop material thereinto and threshing it betweenrotor 22 and concaves 26, which are supported by hydraulic concavesupport system 24. Hydraulic concave support system 24 includes hangerpipes 28 also known as support bars 28, guides 30, stop bolts 32,position sensors 34 and hydraulic cylinders 36. For ease of illustrationrotating member 22 has been drawn as a rotor 22, but rotating member 22may also be understood to include a cylinder in a cylinder threshingsystem. Concaves 26 move in a direction substantially toward or awayfrom rotor 22 as constrained by guides 30. At least one portion, eitherthe ram/piston or the body of hydraulic cylinders 36 travel in thedirection of travel of concave 26.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 5, there is shown one embodiment of thepresent invention where hydraulic cylinders 36 are connected to hangerpipes 28 with at least one concave 26 positioned on hanger pipes 28.Hydraulic cylinders 36 are operatively controlled to position concaves26 so that they are proximate to rotor 22 with the minimum of clearanceeven with a clearance of zero millimeters thereby coming very close torotor 22. Hydraulic cylinders 36 control the position of concave 26while the harvesting process is ongoing. Guides 30 are positioned sothat the hanger pipes 28 traveling along a desired path. Stop bolts 32contact hanger pipe 28 to physically stop the movement of concave 26 anyfurther in the vertical direction. In the illustrated embodiment,hydraulic cylinders 36 are directly connected to a respective hangerpipe 28 without any linkages to change the direction of movement of themovable hydraulic element of hydraulic cylinder 36, which moves insubstantially the same direction as concave 26. The functioning of thehydraulic system and how it controls the support of concave 26 will bediscussed later after next considering another embodiment of hydraulicconcave support system 24.

Now referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 there is shown another embodiment of thehydraulic concave support system 24 having a support 38 with a pivotpoint 40 and a hydraulic cylinder 36. In FIG. 4 one hydraulic cylindermay be utilized which may be centrally located along hanger pipe 28.However, it is also contemplated to use two hydraulic cylinders asillustrated in FIG. 5 along one side of rotor 22. Although hydraulicconcave support system 24 is illustrated and described as supportingconcave 26 from beneath concave 26, it is also contemplated that thepresent invention can be embodied as a suspension system with concave 26being suspended from hydraulic cylinders 36 that are suspended from asupport positioned above concave 26.

In FIG. 5 there are shown further details including locating features 44that extend from a part of hydraulic cylinders 36 and extend throughopenings 42 in hanger pipe 28. Cam lock pins 46 extend through concave26 in such a manner that when concave 26 is inserted, while hydrauliccylinders 36 are fully contracted, the cam lock pins 46 extend upwardand when the operator commands the extension of hydraulic cylinders 36the cam lock pins contact lock protrusions 46 causing the cam lock pins46 to rotate into the position shown in FIG. 5 where two portions of camlock pins 46 extend into and through openings in concave 26. When it istime to change concaves 26 the operator causes hydraulic cylinders 36 tofully contract causing unlock protrusions 50 to extend through holes inhanger pipe 28 thereby pushing cam lock pins 46 into an unlockedposition for easy removal of concaves 26 from threshing system 20.

Now, additionally referring to FIG. 6 there are shown schematically someof the elements of hydraulic concave support system 24 including acontroller 62, an operator interface 64, actuators 66, 68, 70 and 72,sensors 74, 76, 78 and 80, accumulators 82 and 84, and valves 86 and 88.Actuators 66, 68, 70 and 72 are individually identified hydrauliccylinders 36 that are identified as such for the ease of discussion.Operator interface 64 is located in cab 16 and allows the operator toprovide input into the positioning and setup of hydraulic concavesupport system 24. Controller 62 receives position and pressureinformation from sensors 74, 76, 78 and 80 to operatively controlhydraulic concave support system 24. Accumulators 82 and 84 arepositioned to absorb certain pressure and fluid imbalances in thesystem. Accumulators 82 and 84 are hydraulically connected on thenon-shaft side of hydraulic cylinders 36 as illustrated in FIG. 5.Valves 84 and 86 are positioned on the shaft side in order to controlthe rate at which concave 26 approaches rotor 22. Although accumulator82 and valve 86 are shown along a side of concave 26 in FIG. 5 it isalso contemplated to utilize this configuration with the hydrauliccylinders that are across from each other as shown in FIG. 3.

While sensor, 74, 76, 78 and 80 may include both pressure and positionaloutputs to controller 62 and may be integral with the respectiveactuator, it is also contemplated that the sensors may not be integralwith the actuators. For example, there may be one positional sensorassociated with a hanger pipe 28 or one actuator. Also, one pressuresensor per hydraulic circuit, apart from the actuators, is alsocontemplated.

As the crop material enters into threshing system 20 hydraulic concavesupport system 24 functions to keep a substantially constant pressure onconcaves 26 as concave 26 may vary in position from rotor 22 dependingupon the bulk of the material passing therethrough. If concave 26departs from rotor 22 more than a predetermined amount then hydraulicconcave support system 24 increases the pressure to maintain the spacingso that it does not exceed the predetermined departure from rotor 22.However, if the pressure measured by sensors 74, 76, 78 or 80 exceed apredetermined value then controller 62 allows hydraulic cylinders 36 tomove concave 26 away from rotor 22 until the material causing thesignificant pressure is moved through threshing system 20. Valves 86 and88 control the rate at which hydraulic cylinders 36 return to theirdesired position so that concave 26 does not come into too rapid contactwith crop material or rotor 22.

Concave 26 can be supported utilizing hydraulic concave support system24 on one side with the other side mounted to support 38 as shown inFIG. 4 or concave 26 may be hydraulically supported on both sides, asshown in FIG. 3. Hydraulic concave support system 24 utilizes multiplehydraulic cylinders 36 attached to a single hanger pipe 28 havingconcave 26 supported thereby. An accumulator is hydraulically connectedto hydraulic cylinders 36 to maintain a pressure on the crop mat as itflows through threshing section 20. This pressure on the crop matprovides for more variability in the feeding rates as the thin mat willhave substantially the same pressure as a thick mat as it flows throughthreshing system 20. The prior art method of adjusting the distancebetween the concaves and the threshing elements is not the criteriafollowed by hydraulic concave support system 24 which tries to maintainthe concave clearance at zero millimeters. As the crop passes throughthreshing system 20 the departure of concave 26 from rotor 22 isadjusted by hydraulic concave support system 24 to the desired croppressure. In the event of a concave overload hydraulic concave supportsystem 24 drops concave 26 to allow the obstruction/slug to passtherethrough. One way of detecting the presence of a slug may be therate of concave displacement, in which controller 62 detects the rate ofchange allowing for a rapid opening of concave 26 from rotor 22 to allowthe obstruction to pass without damage to threshing system 20.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the operator enters adesired pressure to be maintained on the crop mat, and a minimum andmaximum opening distance for the distance between concave 26 and rotor22. These settings are crop specific and operator interface 64 maydisplay suggested settings for a particular crop type/variety.Controller 62 positions concave 26 at the minimum opening distance, suchas 5 mm, when there is no crop mat between concave 26 and rotor 22.Controller 62 monitors the separation distance as the crop mat flowsbetween concave 26 and rotor 22 and maintains the desired pressure aslong as the separation distance remains between the minimum and maximumopening distance. If the maximum opening distance, such as 15 mm, isapproached or violated, then controller 62 increases the pressure tomaintain the separation distance so as to not exceed the maximum openingdistance, even if the pressure exceeds the selected pressure. However,if a blockage or slug enters between concave 26 and rotor 22, controller26 detects this and rapidly moves concave 26 away from rotor 22 to allowthe blockage/slug to pass. The detection of the blockage/slug isaccomplished by detecting a high rate of change in the separationdistance and/or by a rapid pressure increase and/or exceeding apredetermined pressure sensed by at least one of the sensors 74, 76, 78or 80. Once the blockage/slug has passed, controller 62 moves concave 26back to its normal operating position between the minimum and maximumopening distance.

Applicants also contemplate the use of a predetermined pressure profileor use of an algorithm to modify the pressure applied to concave 26while it is between the minimum and maximum opening distance.

Operator interface 64 allows the operator to advantageously cam lock andunlock concave 26 when it is time to change out concave 26. Operatorinterface 64 additionally allows the desired pressure to be set by theoperator while hydraulic concave support system 24 does attempt tomaintain the concave clearance at zero rather than a preset separationas in the prior art.

The present invention advantageously reduces crop loads on the threshingsystem and the concave support structure as well as provides for betterserviceability and more crop throughput while keeping crop losses to aminimum. The reduced loading in the system is beneficial in that somestructural members can be reduced in size and weight to provide anoverall improvement in the efficiency of the system. The single pointrelease utilizing the cam lock system can be advantageously operatedfrom the cab and reduces the changeover time when concaves have to bereplaced or are changed to accommodate a different crop. Anotheradvantage of the present invention is that the harvester is able tomatch the changing conditions without operator input and is able toprovide a more uniform loss curve while varying the feed ratestherethrough. Yet a further advantage of the present invention is thatit reduces concave wear that can be brought on by incorrect operatorsettings of a concave clearance.

Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent thatvarious modifications can be made without departing from the scope ofthe invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

1. An agricultural harvesting machine, comprising: a frame; and athreshing section supported by said frame, said threshing sectionincluding: a rotating member; at least one concave movable in directionstoward and away from said rotating member; and a hydraulic concavesupport system positioning said at least one concave proximate to saidrotating member, said hydraulic concave support system including atleast one hydraulically driven element movable substantially parallel tosaid directions toward and away from said rotating member.
 2. Theagricultural harvesting machine of claim 1, wherein said hydraulicconcave support system includes: at least one hydraulic actuatorincluding a first hydraulic actuator having an end portion, said endportion being said hydraulically driven element; and a support barconnected to said end portion, said support bar engaging an end of saidconcave.
 3. The agricultural harvesting machine of claim 2, wherein saidat least one hydraulic actuator additionally includes a second hydraulicactuator having an end portion, said support bar being additionallyconnected to said end portion of said second hydraulic actuator.
 4. Theagricultural harvesting machine of claim 2, further comprising an othersupport bar engaging an opposite end of said concave, said at least onehydraulic actuator additionally including a second hydraulic actuatorhaving an end portion, said other support bar being connected to saidend portion of said second hydraulic actuator
 5. The agriculturalharvesting machine of claim 4, wherein said at least one hydraulicactuator additionally includes a third hydraulic actuator and a fourthhydraulic actuator both having an end portion, said support bar beingadditionally connected to said end portion of said third hydraulicactuator, said other support bar being additionally connected to saidend portion of said fourth hydraulic actuator.
 6. The agriculturalharvesting machine of claim 5, further comprising: a set of guidespositioned so that each end of said support bar may slide therein; andan other set of guides positioned so that each end of said other supportbar may slide therein.
 7. The agricultural harvesting machine of claim5, further comprising a hydraulic accumulator hydraulically connected tosaid first hydraulic actuator and to said second hydraulic actuator. 8.The agricultural harvesting machine of claim 7, further comprising arate control device operatively connected to said first hydraulicactuator and to said second hydraulic actuator.
 9. The agriculturalharvesting machine of claim 1, further comprising a controllerconfigured to control a pressure in said hydraulic concave supportsystem.
 10. The agricultural harvesting machine of claim 9, wherein saidpressure is substantially constant over a selected departure distance ofsaid concave from said rotating member and then said pressure isincreased to prevent a further departure of said concave from saidrotating member.
 11. The agricultural harvesting machine of claim 10,wherein said controller is configured to allow said concave to departfrom said rotating member a distance further than said selecteddeparture distance if said pressure is above a predetermined value. 12.A threshing section for use in an agricultural harvesting machine, thethreshing section comprising: a rotating member; at least one concavemovable in directions toward and away from said rotating member; and ahydraulic concave support system positioning said at least one concaveproximate to said rotating member, said hydraulic concave support systemincluding at least one hydraulically driven element movablesubstantially parallel to said directions toward and away from saidrotating member.
 13. The threshing section of claim 12, wherein saidhydraulic concave support system includes: at least one hydraulicactuator including a first hydraulic actuator having an end portion,said end portion being said hydraulically driven element; and a supportbar connected to said end portion, said support bar engaging an end ofsaid concave.
 14. The threshing section of claim 13, wherein said atleast one hydraulic actuator additionally includes a second hydraulicactuator having an end portion, said support bar being additionallyconnected to said end portion of said second hydraulic actuator.
 15. Thethreshing section of claim 13, further comprising an other support barengaging an opposite end of said concave, said at least one hydraulicactuator additionally including a second hydraulic actuator having anend portion, said other support bar being connected to said end portionof said second hydraulic actuator
 16. The threshing section of claim 15,wherein said at least one hydraulic actuator additionally includes athird hydraulic actuator and a fourth hydraulic actuator both having anend portion, said support bar being additionally connected to said endportion of said third hydraulic actuator, said other support bar beingadditionally connected to said end portion of said fourth hydraulicactuator.
 17. The threshing section of claim 16, further comprising: aset of guides positioned so that each end of said support bar may slidetherein; and an other set of guides positioned so that each end of saidother support bar may slide therein.
 18. The threshing section of claim16, further comprising a hydraulic accumulator hydraulically connectedto said first hydraulic actuator and to said second hydraulic actuator.19. The threshing section of claim 18, further comprising a rate controldevice operatively connected to said first hydraulic actuator and tosaid second hydraulic actuator.
 20. The threshing section of claim 12,further comprising a controller; at least one position sensor configuredto send a signal to said controller representing a distance between saidrotating member and said concave; and at least one pressure sensorconfigured to send a signal to said controller representative of apressure in said hydraulic concave support system, said controllermaintaining said pressure at a predetermined value unless said distanceexceeds a predetermined distance.